The Telegraphs Salon QP show returns to the Saatchi Gallery London

The Telegraphs Salon QP show returns to the Saatchi Gallery London

The Telegraph’s Salon QP returns to the Saatchi Gallery on November 2-4 with a vast selection of artisan watch brands you won’t find on the high street, as well as special exhibitions, expert seminars and exciting pop-ups.

Thursday opening night reception
Salon QP’s prestigious opening night reception has become renowned for launching new watches, with this year already seeing independent watchmakers Fears and Urban Jurgensen confirming new watches for the fair.Friday cocktail reception
Friday night at Salon QP will be a celebration of independent watchmaking and individual style. The gallery will be transformed with live DJs, wine tastings and pop-ups along with headline special exhibition, Material Factors, exploring the impact of new materials on watch design.

Special Exhibitions
The QP editorial team has curated four special exhibitions to educate and entertain visitors to Salon QP this year. Covering four separate fields, the special exhibitions are a major part of the experience at Salon QP and will include a mix of sought-after contemporary watches and rare vintage pieces.

Astronomy: time & space
Charting the link between the movement of the heavens above and the watch on your wrist, Astronomy: Time & Space looks at all the ways that watchmaking has sought to map the solar system. From simple (and not so simple) moonphase watches to perpetual calendars and those that display more esoteric concepts, such as sidereal time. Masterpieces of the genre including Van Cleef & Arpels’ Midnight Planetarium, developed by Salon QP exhibitor Christiaan Van Der Klaauw, and Jacob & Co’s astonishing Astronomia Sky will be stars of the show.

Black tie, white dial
A bespoke dinner suit wouldn’t be the same without a suitably refined dress watch on the wrist to complete the look. QP has partnered with Davide Taub, head cutter of renowned Savile Row tailor Gieves & Hawkes, to explore the varying styles of dinner jackets over the past 150 years, from the comparative formality of the Belle Epoque era to the Italian-influenced cool of the 1950s. QP will ensure that each style, whatever the era, is paired with fitting dress watches from the likes of Longines and Piaget.

Behind the wheel
A celebration of the rich history and contemporary thirst for innovation shared by the worlds of motoring and watches, Behind The Wheel will bring together some of the most significant brands in either field, including IWC and Mercedes-AMG as well as important automotive vintage watches. Together they will serve to showcase the design, craft, technical precision and above all passion that has made the bond between cars and watches such a natural one. Behind The Wheel will be supported by works of art, immersive displays, collector events and panel discussions.

Material factors
The times when watches were made either from steel or gold are long gone. Material Factors will bring to life the vast amount of work that goes into the design of a watch, to explain how the watch world has embraced a variety of new materials – including ceramic, carbon fibre, sapphire crystal and advanced polymers – and how they in turn have made possible creations that mere decades ago would have seemed unthinkable. In some cases, such as at Rado, it has meant working with outside designers; elsewhere, harnessing the engineering prowess already in the industry.

2017 seminar programme
Salon QP 2017 will feature a packed programme of lectures and panel discussions from a host of renowned watchmakers, experts and personalities. Men’s style influencer Jim Chapman and Gieves & Hawkes’ head cutter Davide Taub will discuss the impact of the dinner suit and it’s relevance in increasingly casual times. The Naked Watchmaker will illustrate the importance of horological developments and QP’s Vintage Panel will present a live version of their engaging discussions. The full seminar programme will be available at salonqp.com/exhibition.